Then a lone blue wave ran across the world around Raven and Lloyd, as it changed their surroundings and they were back at Aeroplane.
"Weird. That was only one wave," Lloyd said.
"Hm... we probably moved to a different location besides time," Raven said, as she noticed that the sun wasn't very far off from where it was a moment ago.
"There's Akemi," Lloyd said, as he pointed towards the First Green ninja, who stood near where the ramp was, waiting for Meir to return.
Lloyd and Raven slowly approached Akemi, as they saw her walking around aimlessly, as she was observing the sky starting to change color. She signed, as she looked toward the city.
Then she felt a familiar breeze coming from behind her, and she turned around to see Meir.
"My love, your back," Akemi said, as she quickly made her way to Meir and hugged him, as he slowly hugged her back.
"You've been gone for most of the day, but I still missed you," Akemi said, as she hugged him tighter.
"Akemi," Meir nearly whispered, as Akemi could hear, in the tone of his voice, that something was wrong.
She pulled back as she looked at Meir, and asked, in concern, "What's wrong darling?"
Meir didn't say anything for a moment, and then he replied, "I found out what I am..."
Akemi tilted her head slightly in confusion, and asked, "What do you mean?"
Meir replied, "I'm the ssson of a Black Mambian, a half sssserpent, half human perssson."
Akemi gasped in surprise to see Meir's serpent tongue and fangs, but she was also very intrigued.
"Wow... this is extraordinary. Why didn't you tell me sooner Meir?" Akemi said, as she examined his mouth, and Meir looked at her in surprise.
"Y-Your not afraid?" Meir asked.
"Afraid? Why would I be afraid? Your just a little different is all. This doesn't change the fact that I love you," Akemi said with a smile, as Meir's eyes softened.
Akemi pulled away from Meir as she thought about something, while Meir stood watching her and thought,
'She really loves me... my Akemi... what have I done...'
Meir held his head, as he thought about his recent action, but then he heard his own voice say in his mind,
'But he deserved it. He wanted to keep you trapped... but now your free. Free to be you, and to be with Akemi.'
'Yes... that's right... right?' Meir thought, and then Akemi turned to him and said,
"I'm not bothered by this, and I'm sure my parents won't... but now that I think about it... eh, I'm sure everyone will be fine with it too. After all, you did save everyone before."
Akemi reached out and grabbed Meir's hand, as she tried to lead him towards the city.
'Why would they accept you? Your still a monster, but now you have blood on your hands,' his voice spoke in a darker tone in Meir's mind, as he stopped walking.
"What's wrong?" Akemi asked, when she felt that Meir stopped walking.
"Would they accept me? Aren't I no different than the monsssters below usss?" Meir asked.
Akemi gasped and said, "Meir, your not a monster, and your certainly not like the ones below us. There are mostly bestial creatures down there who would hurt people, and some hurt their own kind. But your not like that. You have something in you that they don't have, and that's light. Your a good man Meir, and the best husband in the whole world."
Meir halfheartedly smiled, as he took his other hand and gently stroked Akemi's cheek.
"Your the bessst wife in the whole world, my darling. Nothing would ever change that fact with me," Meir said, as Akemi smiled at him.
After gazing into each others' eyes for a moment, Meir and Akemi moved closer as they exchanged a kiss.
However, after a moment during this exchange, Akemi sensed something strange within Meir, and then her eyes flashed in gold. When her eyes returned to normal, Akemi pulled away from Meir, as she looked at him in shock, while Meir looked at her in surprise.
"What'sss the matter?" Meir asked, in concern.
"Meir... w-why... why?" Akemi asked, as her voice trembled.
"Why what?" Meir asked.
"W-W... Why did you kill your father?!" Akemi blurted out, as Meir's eyes widened and his skin grew pale.
"... H-How do you know?" Meir asked, as he took a step back.
"I-I saw it. I saw it when we kissed just now... oh, Meir, what happened? Why would you do that?" Akemi asked, as her eyes started to water.
Meir felt the weight on his heart again, as he tried to explain the situation to Akemi,
"I-I... he never told me what I wasss. He wasss too afraid to tell me or anyone elssse besssides my mother what we were. I never knew why he wasss gone thosse timesss, and I always worried about him when he wass perfectly fine the whole time! And... and..."
"And what?" Akemi asked, in a soft voice.
Meir closed his eyes and looked away, feeling a pang in his heart, and then he looked back at Akemi and replied,
"He'sss the reasson why my mother iss gone! He came home one time without realizing that there wasss a poissonous ssubsstance on hisss clothess! We were immune to it, but my mother wassn't... that'ss why she got ssick and died... it was hisss fault."
Tears started streaming down Meir's cheeks, as Akemi looked at him with sympathy, and some empathy since she knew Meir's mother. A few tears started to fall down her cheeks, as she walked closer to Meir, and placed her hands on the sides of his head.
"Meir, I can see your distress... I can see your pain... I can even see your regret... I can understand why you did what you did, but that was not the way you should have handled that. Why didn't you come here to me? We could have talked, and then we could have talked to your dad together," Akemi asked.
Meir looked downward and replied, "I don't know why I didn't come to you firsst, but I lost ssso much because of hisss fear that I didn't want to losse anything preciouss to me anymore... I lost time with him, worried so much over him, lost my mother, and even my true identity for mosst of my life... I didn't want sssomething else to happen I... I..."
Meir stood silent, as Akemi released him, and turned around to think about what he just said.
'I was... I was...' Meir thought, and then his own dark voice spoke to him again and said,
'You were afraid... just like your father... Who would have thought that fear would have taken over you like that... but you ARE your father's son...'
Meir started to tremble, as more tears poured down his eyes, and he placed his hand on his forehead.
'I'm no different... I'm no different than a monster... I AM a monster... a horrible monster...' Meir thought, as he clutched his hair in the hand that was on his head.
'You mean... WE are a monster...' His dark voice whispered, although Meir was in too much distress to think about it.
"You need to go Meir," Akemi said, as Meir looked up at her in surprise, while removing his hand and releasing his hair.
"W-What?" Meir asked.
Akemi turned to Meir and held his hands, as she said,
"You need time to sort yourself out. You need to be alone for awhile. Go to an empty mountain plain and stay there. I'll give the leaders and everyone else an excuse for your absence, and then when the leaders leave I'll head straight to you. We can sort this out together without anyone else knowing-"
"It's too late for the latter," a voice said, as Meir and Akemi quickly turned to see Elder Vidur standing about ten feet away from them.
"Elder Vidur," Akemi said in surprise.
"How much did you hear?" Meir asked, nervously.
"When Akemi asked why you killed Yahto. I came here to talk to you Meir because I received an express letter from Rai and Peter asking if you were okay, but I can see now that you aren't," Elder Vidur said, as he slowly approached them.
"What are you going to do?" Akemi asked, as she and Meir let go of each others' hands.
"-Sign- Well, with a heavy heart, I must ask for you Meir... to leave and not return. You are to be banished from Aeroplane. That is the law," Elder Vidur said, with sadness in his voice.
Akemi gasped, while Meir's eyes widened in surprise.
"But Elder Vidur, he needs help with this. He shouldn't just be banished, he needs help and someone to talk to. That's why I want to help him," Akemi said.
"I understand Akemi, but I must follow the law. He has to be banished from Aeroplane. If you wish to visit him, I will allow it, but it can't be long considering that you are still the protector of Aeroplane. And Meir... I'm very sorry my friend," Elder Vidur said, sadly.
Akemi's tears started to pour down her eyes, as she said, "B-But... I can't just leave him alone... H-He still needs me..."
"I'm sorry Akemi," Elder Vidur said.
Akemi could no longer contain her sorrow, as she placed her hands on her face and sobbed.
"Akemi," Meir called her, as he tried to reach out to her.
However, Elder Vidur stood in front of him with his staff and said, in a caring tone, "Please Meir, let her be. You've done enough."
Then Akemi turned and ran off, as she summoned her Golden dragon and flew towards the temple.
"Akemi..." Meir whispered, as he watched her fly away, while his heart broke in half.
"Go now Meir. While you still have the chance," Elder Vidur said.
Meir lowered his head, while his hair covered his eyes, as he thought,
'I... lost... everything... my mom, my dad... and now I'm losing Akemi... I've lost everything... everything...
But why should I?
Is it really my fault that I've been lied too? Is it really my fault that those people treated me like a monster, an experiment? Seriously?! Is it really my fault that my life was a lie?
Is it really my fault that Akemi is suffering even worse now because Elder Vidur banished me? Because that's the laws of this land? Of these freaking people?
Trying to take the last light in my life... Akemi...'
Lloyd and Raven were able to hear what Meir was thinking in that moment.
"Meir?" Elder Vidur asked, and then he gasped when Meir looked up at him while his pupils were red.
"You dare to stand between me and the love of my life? To take away the last gleam of light from my now miserable life?" Meir asked in a dark tone, as his expression was dark and serious.
"You did that on your own Meir, but I'm not trying to stand between both of you. I'm trying to help you by only banishing you from Aeroplane. But I can see that your losing stability... Go Meir! Don't make this harder for her or yourself. Just stay away!" Elder Vidur said, as he held his staff with both hands.
After a short moment of silence, Meir lowered his head, as a low chuckle escaped his lips. Elder Vidur squinted his eyes in suspicion to what Meir was going to do. Then Meir looked up at Elder Vidur, with his pupils still red, and said,
"If I'm the Purple ninja, with amazing and powerful abilities... then why am I still listening to you?"
Elder Vidur gasped, as Meir brought his hand up and shot a dark purple ball of energy at him, and went flying into a wall. Then Meir turned and started walking towards the city. Elder Vidur slowly picked himself up from the wall, as he was coughing, and said,
"W-What? I didn't think h-he would… h-he must be stopped…"